Winner Announcement: Holidays? Holy Days? Pen It To Win It!

Friends, Writers, Vocalmen, lend me your eyes! I have now chosen the winners of my first-ever contest, Holidays? Holy Days? Pen It To Win It. If you don’t know what that was all about, you can check it out here:

However, before I announce the winners, I’d like to go over my thoughts on each of the entrants as I was reading them. As such, I have listed my comments on them in order of submission. I ended up reading a wide range of formats in these entries, ranging from villanelles to news reports, and they were all interesting in different ways! Be sure to check them out along the way.

So without further ado, here’s the list:

First entry: Holiday Spirit: From Haunts to Harvest and Holly by Daphsam

Daphsam's poem captures the essence of seasonal transitions with a rhythmic flow that gives off rapper vibes, reminding me of Eminem in some way I can’t quite describe. The use of various icons as separators between stanzas adds a visual flair to the text that I wasn’t expecting.

The three holidays/holy days Daphsam mentions in this poem are:

• Halloween

• Thanksgiving

• Christmas

Second entry: Stressed, But Blessed by Dana Crandell

Dana’s poem about the holidays has a nice meter and a fluid flow. It reads really well orally.

The three holidays/holy days Dana mentions in this poem are:

• Halloween

• Thanksgiving

• Christmas

Third entry: Poor Judgement Leads to Turkey Mishap by Leslie Writes

Leslie’s nonfiction story revolves around hosting Thanksgiving during the first year of marriage. Sketchy, sketchy.

On a side note, the concept of having to show ID for cold medicine, regardless of its strength, blows my mind. That’s like having to show ID for modeling glue, which is also ridiculous. If a kid’s that hard up, I’m sure they’ll find what they’re looking for somewhere, one way or another. Let the boy put together his dang train!

I don’t know the famous Mr. Bean episode referenced in this story, but the picture speaks 1,000 words. Overall, the images in this story are glorious. Sounds like your family is also pretty easy going, which is always awesome.

The three holidays/holy days Leslie mentions in this poem are:

• Thanksgiving

• Fourth of July

• Christmas

Fourth entry: A Holiday, A Holiday, And The First One Of The Year by Mike Singleton

This villanelle poem reminds me of song lyrics, as intended. It’s dark and festive, with an interesting use of icons.

The three holidays/holy days Mike mentions in this poem are:

• Christmas

• Epiphany

• Yule

Fifth Entry: Holiday Season by Sarah Parker

Sarah’s poem struck me with its use of lowercase letters in the style of e. e. cummings as she discusses the stress of the holiday season and how she handles it.

The three holidays/holy days Sarah mentions in this poem are:

• Thanksgiving

• Christmas

• Hannukah

Sixth Entry: Interview with a dis-satisfied customer on Halloween by Sam Harty

Sam’s story is the first fictional story that I’ve read on Vocal that was written in the style of a news report. The story follows the somewhat humorous exchange between two people concerning when holiday decorations should be displayed, which quickly escalates into a darkly humorous ending.

The three holidays/holy days Sam mentions in this poem are:

• Halloween

• Christmas

• New Year’s Day

Seventh Entry: Jimmy And The White Rat by Altum Veritas

Altum’s fictional short story features good dialogue and characterization for a story of this length. Although the story remained fairly light throughout, it was quite entertaining, with a satisfying plot development. I appreciated how well the holiday references were worked into the story. Overall, this was very well written.

The three holidays/holy days Altum mentions in this poem are:

• Fourth of July

• Labor Day

• Halloween

Eighth Entry: Holy Days, Holidays, Lovely Days by Anwesha

In this nonfiction article, Anwesha enlightens the reader about a few Indian holy days. To my surprise, I knew very little about the three holy days she chose! First, she talks about Diwali, the festival of lights. I knew about Diwali vaguely, but I wasn’t aware that it was a four-day event or that it involves a deep cleaning of houses prior to its beginning. I also learned about a variety of foods I hadn’t previously heard of!

She then moves on to Chhat Puja. I had heard the name of this one before, but knew nothing about it. Apparently, it’s the festival of fertility. From what I understand, it’s mostly about preparing the body to be more fertile (as the name implies) through fasting.

Next, Anwesha tells about Holi, the festival of colors – a holy day I had never heard of before! The festival lasts two days, and includes rubbing mustard all over your body. Well, that’s new! Never had I rubbed mustard anywhere on my body. Nor have I ever wanted to. I think I’ll skip this holiday in my future celebrations.

Overall, this was a well-written, informative article.

Again, the three holidays/holy days Anwesha mentions in this poem are:

• Diwali

• Chhat Puja

• Holi

Ninth Entry: When Thanksgiving ate Christmas and Halloween burped by WOA

WOA’s presumably non-fiction slice-of-life story addresses the age-old problem of Christmas celebrations slowly encroaching on Thanksgiving and Halloween celebrations. Watch out, July Fourth – you’re next!

(Also, WOA, I’m so glad you were able to figure out how to embed links, and I think there’s absolutely nothing wrong with flashing that skill around now that you have it!)

The three holidays/holy days WOA mentions in this poem are:

• Christmas

• Epiphany

• Yule

And Now For The Winners!

That was all nine entrants! What did you think? If you were the judge, would you have trouble choosing? I know I did! However, after looking them all over, debating with myself for a while, reading some of them again, changing my mind, then changing my mind back, I finally decided.

The number one prize ($10) goes to Altum Veritas, with Jimmy And The White Rat! Be sure to go check out more of his work here:

(Congratulations, Altum, your tip should theoretically be showing up soon. Please let me know when it arrives.)

For the second place prize ($5), I chose Dana Crandell, with Stressed, But Blessed! You can find more of his work here:

(Altum, congrats on second place! Your tip should be arriving soon. Please let me know when it gets there!)

To Everyone

I'd like to thank all the other entrants for sharing their work with me and giving me an opportunity to be exposed to stories and poems I may otherwise have never seen. Also, thanks to all the readers who have shown their support to the other entrants and to me. You're all appreciated!

Also, if you're hankering for another writing contest, be sure to check out Mummies For Christmas -- Again? Let's Have A Challenge! I think it should be a blast for readers and writers alike!

Author's Note: This was the first contest I've ever hosted on here. I truly hope you enjoyed it! If you'd like to show your support, please feel free to leave a comment, click the heart, and subscribe!